BAKER, EDWARD MAX

BAKER, EDWARD MAX (1875–1957), U.S. investment broker and communal leader. Baker was born in Erie, Pennsylvania. His maternal grandfather was Rabbi David *Einhorn, and his uncles were Rabbis Emil G. *Hirsch and Kaufmann *Kohler, leaders of Reform Judaism. In 1901 Baker entered the brokerage business in Cleveland. He became resident manager of a national brokerage firm in 1911 and served as president of the Cleveland Stock Exchange for 14 years. Baker was a founder of the Cleveland Federation of Jewish Charities (1903), serving as its president (1923–27) and as a trustee for more than five decades. He was also a member of the national board of the American Jewish Committee and of other major Jewish institutions. Equally active in Cleveland civic affairs, Baker served as chairman of the Republican County Committee (1907–08). He was a founder of the Cleveland Legal Aid Society; a founder and president of the Cleveland City Club, a community forum; and member of the first Board of Trustees of the Associated Charities of Cleveland.